Thursday, September 26, 2013

Cobourg, Ontario, a picturesque town where the people are nice, the dragonflies are friendly (photo on right tweeted by Steve Byers of dragonfly landing on his leg in Cobourg) and the hotel coffee pots are suspected to have been taken over by evil Transformers, a.k.a. the Decepticons.

Okay, maybe it's only Steve Byers' coffee pot that was taken over by Decepticons...or perhaps he was the only one to publically acknowledge the incident. Which is it? All we can know for certain is that his coffee maker did, in fact, go haywire. While we're at it, is it really a dragonfly? Is it attracted to him because he's a Fire Dragon under the Chinese Zodiac, causing it to feel a kinship with him, or is it a cleverly disguised Autobot sent to make sure the Decepticons don't sabotage more than his hotel coffee maker? We may never know.

I loved watching Steve as John Bennett on Syfy's "Alphas." A show which should have remained on the air. I mean really, doesn't Syfy know that they shouldn't take off stuff I love to watch? I digress...

Like a little kid in December I've been eagerly awaiting the release of "Catch a Christmas Star," a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie starring Steve Byers and Shannon Elizabeth. In the meantime, just when I was about to go crazy waiting for his new film to come out, I was thrilled to learn he was cast in another TV movie, this time for the UP network (stands for Uplifting network,) formerly known as the Gospel Music Channel. Still, I'm getting off topic.

What does all this have to do with Cobourg, friendly dragonflies, and Decepticons, you ask? Well, the movie we can now look forward to seeing Steve Byers in, titled "Rocky Road," was filmed in Cobourg.

"Rocky Road" is not a remake of previous movies by the same name which come up when you Google the title. It's also, fortunately, not a joke by Steve. Let's face it, he's funny, and while I know that anyone would be crazy not to hire him for whatever role he desires, I was a little concerned at first when I asked him what he was working on and he referenced a film called, "Rocky Road," because of course the phrase "rocky road" could also refer to a long haul and rough time finding work. But no, fortunately, this wasn't one of Steve's cleverly-worded Tweets, the kind that make a person think twice (or three times) before they begin rolling on the floor laughing.

Photo on right of Mark Salling, Rebecca Dalton, and Steve Byers (tweeted by Mark Salling.)

So what's the film about, you may be asking? Rather than re-invent the wheel, I'll quote from Pete Fisher's article, "TV movies to film scenes around Cobourg" which appeared online in the "Northumberland Today" on Sunday, September 8, 2013 12:41:41 EDT PM:

"Rocky Road is a story about a young hot shot Wall Streeter named Harrison (Mark Salling from Glee) who loses his job and expensive lifestyle due to a failed merger. He's forced to move back in with his parents in the small town he’d fled, and take over his old ice cream truck route in his father's dwindling business. Having spent a lifetime looking up to the power brokers of Wall Street and looking down on the simple ways of his small-town father, Harrison starts to appreciate his father's values and find the faith that he lost along the way. Sometimes the best road is the Rocky Road home."

Certainly we'll all be cheering on Mark Salling's character, who pretty clearly sounds to me like he's set up to be the good guy. Rebecca Dalton, who we've seen on screen before with Steve in "The L.A. Complex," also stars in the film. Steve Byers is cast as Rick Johnson, a character who is, he tells me, aptly named as he's quite the jerk. Since Steve's such a nice guy we'll get to see him showcase his great acting skills in this as he's obviously nothing like his character in real life, well, apart from being super handsome. :)

Steve being super handsome brings me back to the opening of this post. I imagine the Decepticons are targeting the actor because he's such a good guy, as we know from his tweets that his hotel coffee maker went berserk and brown liquid when everywhere other than in the coffee pot.

It was suggested to him that he could've gotten coffee in the hotel lobby. Now, apparently he wanted his java quickly as he tweeted, "Lobby coffee in your underwear is frowned upon." Though in his case, I think (and if you read my tweets you already read this) that the reaction would be one of dancing and great rejoicing from the women of Cobourg which I'm sure would have led to a female stampede the likes of which had never been seen before. So, I'm certain that the owners of the hotel as well as hotel security appreciated Steve's good judgment in delaying coffee consumption until he was fully covered and could make it out of his room without causing a riot :)

More about Steve Byers:

You can follow him on Twitter here. You can read his interview with me here. You can find my letter telling Steve I want to adopt him here. Or for a good laugh you can read my post, "Am I Part Alpha?" here. To follow Steve's unofficial Twitter Fan group go here.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

So, I went to a wedding yesterday-- an Oklahoma wedding, and it was awesome! I got to dance the night away with my sweetheart, and I had a blast. There was plenty of great Mexican food and chocolate to go around too :) In fact, I think it was the most fun I've ever had at a wedding. Why? Because things were arranged so there wasn't any of this "waiting around" business, like I usually experience at weddings.

What made this "Oklahoma" wedding different though? Well, most notably, the footwear, at least at first glance. It's not uncommon there to see men in nice dress shirts with suit jackets and jeans sporting cowboy boots. It may sound odd, but in Oklahoma, it fits. The men in the wedding party were all dressed to a "T" and had 1950's style tennis shoes on with their dress clothes. Knowing my family as I do, this fits and they pulled it off with class.

The bride looked like she'd stepped out of a fashion magazine and the ceremony was outdoors with white Christmas-style lights. As soon as it was over, there was great food and wine and when we'd finished that, the photo booth in which one could sport funky fashion accessories, was something fun to do while the dancing got going.

All-in-all, a great time, and we didn't even get lost on our way to Luther, Oklahoma traveling the red dirt roads. Red because of the high amount of iron oxide in the area. Hats off to my cousin and his new wife for throwing a great party, a beautiful ceremony, and a wonderful, memorable evening. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness! :)

An Entirely Different Timelord by Peter Maxian

It was one of those days. The invisible dragon and the magician were circling lazily over a house near a forest in Missouri, amused by the antics of Christina BraveStar. She was voicing thoughts inspired by her day. "It's a crisis -- I'm stressed out & there is no chocolate in the house!"The young dragon had good intentions. "Shall I offer to fly her somewhere?"His father, the magician, sensed other possibilities. "Not yet. Let's wait and see."A few moments later Christina BraveStar voiced an unusual possibility for adventure. "I need a Timelord to take me somewhere for about an hour to unwind…"The magician was pleased. "You wish is my command, young Ms BraveStar!" He cast a very small spell, and she suddenly felt very tired. She yawned, and her words slumped together.

She lay down on the sofa, and was soon asleep and dreaming. Dreams, as we all know, are governed by an entirely different Timelord to the lord of time which governs our waking moments. With a wave of his hand the magician projected her dream out in front of himself and his hovering invisible dragon son.

:::

Christina BraveStar found herself again on a tropical island. The nearly deserted beach was the perfect landing spot for the invisible dragon. She searched the sky for him. "Are you coming to visit, dragon?"But he did not come. A small black dot appeared in the clear blue sky, far out over the crystal blue ocean. It grew in size, and soon Christina realized it was a large winged creature flying toward her. As the creature zoomed in over the shallows, she saw the creature was a winged horse. "A black pegasus! And…"She recognized the young man seated astride the winged horse. "...my favorite TV star!"The young man dismounted, and introduced himself. "Hi! I'm Steve Byers."

Christina BraveStar was grinning, trying to think of something cool and impressive to say. It didn't happen. "Yeah, I know…"

:::

The magician was seated on the enormous shoulders of his invisible dragon son, giggling heartily. "This is wonderful! I think I'll help her out." He cast another spell, and in her dream a table laden with a feast of tropical fruits and Belgian chocolate appeared on the beach nearby.

:::

Christina realized she now had something slightly cool and impressive to say. She gestured at the table. "Would you like some Belgian chocolate, Steve?"The young actor looked quizzically at the feast laden table on the beach. "I didn't think Belgian chocolate was tropical…?"She tried to explain. "You're in my dream. My dreams are a bit unusual."Now he was curious. "In your dream? Who are you?"She introduced herself. "The Ancient Ones call me Christina BraveStar. She who boldly dreams what no-one has dreamed before…"This was very confusing for the young man. "What am I doing here? A few moments ago I was playing a role in a TV show like Quantum Leap where I am a completely different character every week and…" He realized what had happened. "Oh my God! I've Quantum Leapt into your dream!"Christina BraveStar grinned again, and tried to think of something cool and impressive to say, but the same thing happened as before. "Yeah, I know…"

:::

The invisible dragon looked at his father. "Are you going to help her out again?"The magician thought for a moment. "OK, I've got an idea." He waved his hand.

:::

A wakeboard appeared at the feet of the young actor, and tropical huts with a jaccuzzi materialized over the water. She now had a perfect cool and impressive thing to say. "Would you like to go wakeboarding, or perhaps take a jacuzzi?"Steve Byers was very impressed. "Cool! I love wakeboarding!"She was very satisfied with this dream. "And I love to sit in a jacuzzi and sample belgian chocolate..."He picked up the wakeboard. "Your dreams are amazing! Unusual, but amazing."Christina BraveStar grinned again. "Yeah, I know…"

The magician tapped the invisible dragon on the shoulder. "We have to leave, good son. Adventures await."

His son was still gazing at the scene in front of him, with Christina in the jacuzzi and Steve Byers wakeboarding in the shallows. "Shall we wake her up?"

The magician smiled warmly at his son. "Let her dream."

With a beat of his enormous invisible wings, the dragon carried his father onward to new journeys and adventures.

Christina Williams: If you haven't already, you can read Steve Byers' interview here.